Active Directory and DNS

DNS is the de facto naming system for IP-based networks and the naming service that is used to locate computers on the Internet. Windows 2000 uses DNS to locate computers and domain controllers (that is, to locate Active Directory). A workstation or member server finds a domain controller by querying DNS. For this reason, installing or upgrading to Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server requires that a DNS infrastructure is in place or is installed simultaneously.

Windows 2000 DNS server is included with Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and can be used to integrate DNS and Active Directory for ease of DNS management. Windows 2000 DNS server can be installed at the time you install Windows 2000 Server, at the time you install Active Directory, or manually after you have installed either of them.

For more information about installing and using Windows 2000 DNS server, see "Windows 2000 DNS" in the TCP/IP Core Networking Guide . For more information about installing Active Directory, see "Active Directory Data Storage" in this book.